God’s Word Stands the Test of Time

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 12/31/09. Text: 1 Peter 1:22-25 http://ref.ly/1P1.22-25

God's Word Stands the Test of Time

On one of the bookshelves in the house where I grew up, sat a set of beautifully-bound books. They were there my entire childhood, and I would often spend time looking through them. Seemingly endless knowledge was at my fingertips. The books were full of pictures, charts, and articles on just about any topic you can think of. And the best part was that, at least in my mind, these books were reliable. They could be trusted.

In case you were wondering, the set of books was the complete World Book encyclopedia: 1980 edition. I was right that these books were a great source of information. But were they reliable? Mostly they were, I'm sure; I haven't looked through them lately. But they were probably the most reliable right when they came out. Since then, though, they've gotten a bit out of date. Think of all the things that have happened since 1980. All the events, all the new technology, all of the stories -- they won't be found in those books.

Well, thankfully, we now have the internet to solve all those problems for us!  The internet probably hasn't been good for encyclopedia sales, because now, information can be kept up to date. One such site that promises this is Wikipedia. It's basically an online encyclopedia that has one unique feature: anyone can update it. Just log in and make the necessary changes to any article to make it correct. Now, nothing will ever be out-of-date for long!

Of course, that has also lead to a few problems. Wikipedia has been famous (or notorious) for having people make purposely false changes to articles. It's been especially bad during the times around elections. Numerous times, someone who was against a particular candidate went on and added false, scandalous information to their Wikipedia site. Turns out you can't even trust the internet to be true and up-to-date.

That's something for us to think about as we enter a new year tomorrow. What's really reliable? What can we put our trust in? The changing of one year into another reminds us that everything changes. Our relationships with others change. The things we do every day change. Our clothes wear out. Our homes and cars need repairs (when they don't need to be replaced.) Food spoils. Technology that is new one day is obsolete the next.

Yes, even our own bodies are wearing out with the passage of time. We're getting older every second. Sickness affects us in varying degrees at different times. And, unless our Lord returns very soon, death will come to each one of us. We will not live forever in this world.

Of course, there is one thing that we can rely on. There is one thing that we can trust one hundred percent. One thing is never out-of-date, never contains an error, is always relevant. I'm talking about God's Word. God gave us the Bible as his perfect, unchanging message of Good News about his Son. And not only is this Word never wrong, it can actually do something for us in this constantly changing world.

We change, things around us decay, but God's Word stays the same. And as it does, it renews us, and gives us new life! Our life, even in this sinful, dead and decaying world, our life has changed forever because of the unchanging Word. Our text from 1 Peter brings these startling changes into focus for us tonight: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." (1 Pt. 1:22)

Now, there's a new year's resolution if I've ever heard one! "Love one another deeply, from the heart!" Obviously, that's a great goal to have, and we can just imagine the good things that would come to our lives if this command was followed by everyone. But notice, before we can really love one another deeply from the heart, we need to have "purified [our]selves by obeying the truth."

Did your life in the past year seem very "purified?" Can you look back on 2009 as a year when you did everything right, when you helped everyone out, when you made giant strides closer to your God through your acts of love to him and to others?

Maybe you can say yes to that. And that's great. But I think more of us have to admit that 2009 was a year of sin for us. It was a year of wrong choices, poorly-chosen words, selfish actions, and steps farther away from God rather than towards him.

And what can we do? Well, we can do just as much to make up for that sin as we can to stop the passage of time. We can do just as much about our sins as we can prevent the calendar from turning from 2009 to 2010. No, we can't do anything about our sins.

But when we recognize that, when we turn to our Lord in repentance, when we despair of our own works and abilities, then we're ready to hear the message from God's Word that's been there the whole time: Jesus took those sins. Jesus, at a place in time nearly two-thousand years ago, took all sins of all time onto himself on the cross. And in his bloody death, and with his perfect life, he has purified you. He has washed you clean. He has, long before you were born, made you new. He won you a new life.

And then, maybe at your baptism, maybe when you heard that Good News, the Holy Spirit gave you faith to believe it all! That's when you began to "obey the truth" of God's Word. That's the only way you could ever believe it! And it's that faith in your heart from the Holy Spirit, and it's that love for your Savior, that gives us the joy and the ability to do what our text tells us to do: love one another deeply, from the heart.

We can do that only because of what the Word has done for us: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Pt. 1:23)  When you were brought to faith through that Word, your new life began, your eternal life began. Yes, we're still sinners, and yes, our bodies will still die one day, but our soul has changed. By faith we are perfect. By faith we have eternal life. Though our bodies die, we will one day have the fulfillment of God's eternal love for us forever.

Our text shows this well as it quotes Isaiah: "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." (1 Pt. 1:24-25) This Word that has changed you, that has given you life, will never let you down. God will not lie to you, but his salvation is truly yours forever.

So remember this as the year changes: love one another deeply, from the heart. And to give you the strength to do this, stay with the Word. Remember, the unchanging Word "is the word that was preached to you." (1 Pt. 1:25) It is the word that gave you life, and it will continue to build up your life of faith in the new year. So keep coming here to church to hear it preached to you. Keep turning in the pages of your Bibles to read it being preached to you. Keep remembering how it was preached to you with water in your baptism. Keep tasting it being preached to you in water and wine and body and blood. Keep that Word in the center of your life. It will not let you down. God's Word stands the test of time.

New Year’s Resolution?

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve! You know what that means…time to make your resolutions for the New Year!

Except…I don’t do those. Maybe you don’t either. So why are you reading this?

You’re reading this because I want you to make a life-resolution: Read your Bible more! There God tells us about his Son, our Savior, he strengthens our faith, he helps us apply his will for our lives. What is keeping us from reading the Bible more?

Maybe you shouldn’t answer that. There are lots of things you might think are keeping you from reading the Bible more, but the fact is, they’re just excuses. I want you to stop making those excuses and start making plans for reading God’s Word on a regular basis.

This is the first in what will (eventually) be several posts on plans that will help you read the Bible more. I hope they help! Through the Bible in 3 years

One of the excuses often brought up to Bible reading is “I don’t have the time.” Well, you probably don’t have time to sit and read the entire Bible in one sitting. But you likely do have time to read a little bit. The WELS website has a nice plan set up to get through the entire Bible in 3 years. The site is http://www.wels.net/spiritual-help/through-my-bible . Every day the site is updated with the current reading to get through the Bible in 3 years. If you don’t get to it and want to see past readings, you can find them in the archive link on that same page. You can even download a file with the entire 3-year schedule of readings if you’d rather.

These are not long readings. They’re probably as long as this post. You have time to do this if you use the internet regularly. How long do you spend on other websites? You have enough time to read the Bible!

As I mentioned before, I hope this and the eventual future posts help you to read God’s Word more. If you have any other ideas or plans that work for you, feel free to leave them in the comments.  God’s blessings to you in 2010!

In the Christmas Manger…

Sermon preached on 12/27/09 at Our Savior for 1st Sunday after Christmas. The text was Hebrews 2:10-18. http://ref.ly/He2.10-18

In the Christmas Manger...

1. Lies one born just like you

2. Lies one born to save people just like you 

Christmas day is over. Sure, it was just a couple days ago. Sure, we've still got all the decorations up here at church, and you've probably got your tree and other decorations up at home. But at this point, the presents have been opened. The boxes and wrapping paper have been thrown away. The all-Christmas music on the radio has already changed back to no-Christmas music. Our minds and attitudes show the same signs. For a lot of you, it's going to be back to work tomorrow -- back to the real world. Sure, the students out there may have some more time off, but it's no longer time off waiting for Christmas. That's already come and gone. The shine and sparkle and glory of Christmas have already started to fade in our minds and hearts.

That can be kind of a let-down, can't it? We get ourselves all worked up to celebrate, to wrap presents, cook food, have our parties and special services, and then like that, it's done. Gone.

And it can be easy for that spark of the incredible, amazing wonder of what God has done to disappear from our hearts, too. When we get ready for Christmas, and when we celebrate Christmas, it can really remind us of God's love, that he sent his Son for us, and that he did something amazing for us on that first Christmas.  We get that spark of joy in our hearts, we feel the glory of what God did when he came to that manger in Bethlehem.

But does that spark get snuffed out when Christmas is over? Does the glory fade? Was that really all it was? Is our faith really that wrapped up in special music and certain days on the calendar? Is being a Christian really worth it during the rest of the year? Does Christmas still matter once Christmas has ended?

It does! Christmas always matters, whether it's the 27th of December or the middle of June. Christmas gives us the assurance that our life does matter, that being a Christian, connected to Christ, who once laid in a manger, means everything for our lives. The meaning of Christmas is wrapped up -- not in pretty wrapping paper that gets thrown into the trash -- Christmas is wrapped up in our Savior. It's wrapped in who he is and what he has done.

So while our world may have moved on and moved past Christmas, don't let that happen to you. Never hesitate to take the time to look into that Christmas manger and see what God has done for you. Because there in the Christmas manger lies one born just like you, who came to save people just like you. His glory will never leave us.

You see, Jesus' glory isn't just a warm, fuzzy feeling you get at Christmas. His glory is what he came at Christmas to give us. Our text from Hebrews mentions this. "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Heb. 2:10) .

That verse deals with the most important topic there is: how we get to heaven. That's what true glory is. Heaven will not have the pain and suffering and problems and troubles that we have now. Those things will be gone forever, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. (Rev. 7:17) We wait for that true glory of heaven while we suffer now.

But the Bible tells us that our getting to heaven directly involves suffering. Do you remember the very first promise of a Savior in the book of Genesis? It's actually pretty violent. God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Gen. 3:15) Enmity is a strong animosity or hatred. Then you've got crushing and striking going on. It's not really the prettiest picture. There's anger and violence there.

So it makes sense, since that's what God promised, that violence and suffering is exactly what Jesus got. You cannot separate Jesus being born in the manger with Jesus being nailed to the cross. You can't have one without the other. Jesus was born so that he could suffer and die. Jesus couldn't have suffered and died unless he had been born of the virgin Mary and put into that manger. The quiet cries of a newborn baby were foreshadowing the cries of pain of a true man suffering and dying.

We might be thinking, "Sure, yes, Jesus had to suffer and die. I get that. But why do I have to suffer? Why do I have to hurt and struggle? I thought Jesus was supposed to cover that! Why do I still have to die some day? Why do I have to lose people I love? Why do I have to live in a world where someone would want to blow himself up along with everyone else in an airplane? Why does there have to be all the anger and hate and problems and suffering? If the goal of all this was to bring us to glory, it sure doesn't seem to be working."

When we start to feel that way, it's easy to think that we somehow got it all wrong. Maybe this whole being a Christian thing isn't worth it. Maybe those things we stopped doing because we somehow got the idea they were sinful -- maybe we can just keep doing them! If God wants everyone to suffer, maybe I don't want any part in that God. Maybe I'm just better off on my own, doing what seems best to me.

Those thoughts might not hit us all at once. They might hit us a little bit here or there. They might come into our minds in these days after Christmas. But recognize when those thoughts come, and don't be fooled. The devil wants those thoughts in your heads, because they're sinful and they lead to sin. They don't lead us forward in our faith, but they bring our faith down. They could eventually destroy our faith altogether.

So when those thoughts come, remember the words our text says next. "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." (Heb. 2:11) There is some amazing comfort in this verse when you think of Christmas. Jesus knows the exact suffering that we go through. He went through it! He didn't just suffer and die on the cross; he felt all the normal pains and sufferings of everyday life that we do. That pain we feel doesn't mean that God has left us, or is being cruel to us. It means we're part of the family. Jesus isn't ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.

In the manger lies one born just like you. The Christmas story isn't a fairy-tale. It's how a real child was really born. That child just happened to be the Savior who would go on to die for us. But he was born just like us! He suffered like us! He made us children of God, guaranteeing that we would never be separated from him.

And because he is just like us, a true human being, it meant that he could do the thing we need the most: bring us true glory. Listen to some of the most beautiful words in the whole Bible: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Heb. 2:14-15)

Yes, Jesus became one of us so he could save all of us. Remember, God had promised punishment for sins, the most severe punishment possible. That means that all your sins, those thoughts you have of thinking God doesn't have your best interest at heart, sins like those deserve death, they deserve hell. They don't just deserve it, God promised that punishment came with those sins.

So then what could be done for sinners like us? Jesus did the only thing that could be done. He came and lived the life we couldn't live -- the life without sin. Then he came and suffered and died a death and a punishment that should've been ours, that we deserved! But he took it all. He could take it all because he is a true human being like us, and he is the true and holy God. As our text says, "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." (Heb. 2:17)

Old Testament high priests would go into the most holy place once a year to offer a major sacrifice. They'd take blood from an animal they'd sacrificed and sprinkle it on top of the ark of the covenant there. They did this because God commanded it to take away sins. This offering made atonement for the people, and God's forgiveness made them at one with him again.

That's what Jesus did for us as our high priest! But he didn't have to give his offering year after year, for his own sins and ours. No, he did it once on the cross, for our sins. It was the perfect sacrifice. And it took our sins away. They are really gone. We're forgiven! And without Christmas, that would not have been possible. There, in the manger, is our salvation! In the Christmas manger lies one who was born to save people just like you. And that's what he did. And because he did, heaven is ours!

Now, I know. We're not in heaven yet. We're still on earth. So we still deal with all those hurts and problems and suffering that I talked about earlier. Those will still be there, until Jesus finally takes us to our true home of glory. But until he does, I want you to recognize when you're having those problems and see them in a different way.

Recognize, first of all, that your problems are temptations. They are temptations that the devil wants to use to pull you from your faith. When you've remembered that, then remember the last verse of our text: "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. " (Heb. 2:18) Jesus suffered, too! He was tempted, too! Remember, he is our brother; he is truly one of us. And this verse reminds us that he can help us!

So when you are suffering, go to your Savior! Return to his Word, go back to his altar, remember your baptism. When you do that, Jesus will help you through your suffering. And when he does, he will also build up your faith. So you can see your suffering and problems, not just as temptations, but also as an opportunity that God wants to use to increase your faith, to increase your trust in him, your dependence on him.

You wouldn't normally think that a newborn baby would be something we would depend on. But that's exactly what Jesus is. Christmas day might be over, but its joy never ends. We might suffer and hurt in our life, but Christmas reminds us that Jesus did, too. In the Christmas manger lies one born just like you. He's your brother. He's made you God's own child. In the Christmas manger lies one who came to save people just like you. And that's what he did. Remember that! Rejoice in that! And look for his love and strength at every turn, every temptation and trial you face. He won't let you down. He will give you his glory.

Rejoice! The Lord Your God Is With You!

This sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent was preached on 12/13/09 at Our Savior. The text is Zephaniah 3:14-17.

Rejoice! The Lord Your God Is With You!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" At least, that's what an old song says. But this really is supposed to be a great time of year. There's Christmas shopping and planning for Christmas parties -- and practicing for Christmas programs! There's getting together with family and friends. There's the music and the food of the season. Even the snow outside somehow adds to the joy and happiness. Maybe it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Or is it? For some, this time of year can be the worst. Seeing family and friends might bring reminders of problems with family and friends -- fractured relationships, fighting, and even death. You might remember who isn't with you this year. All the gift-giving might just bring to mind the things that you don't have; the things you wish you have that just don't ever seem to come. All the happiness and singing and food might just make the fact that you don't feel so happy, that you don't feel like singing, that much harder to bear.

These kinds of feelings are pretty common, of course. Everyone is susceptible to the "winter blues" once in a while. The lack of daylight probably doesn't help matters, either. The question is, how do you snap out of it? How do you not only get out of the funk you're in, but also get back to the joy that this time of year is supposed to bring?

Well, would it help if someone just came to you and said, "Cheer up!"? If someone said, "Come on, get happy! Rejoice!" would you? That's actually kind of the way our text from the book of Zephaniah starts. The words of the prophet very forcefully try to make someone rejoice who is sad; they try to turn sadness and sorrow to singing and gladness.

Listen: "Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!" (Zeph. 3:14) This is way stronger than a "cheer up." He keeps piling on words of joy: sing, shout aloud, be glad, rejoice with all your heart. There's nothing subtle about this. God's Word here isn't looking for someone to feel a little better, it's looking for people to start singing, shouting, and dancing in the streets!

But why? Well, to see why God is saying this, it helps to know who he's talking to. Our text says "daughter of Zion" and "daughter of Jerusalem" are the ones being spoken to. This doesn't just mean "daughters" who lived near Mount Zion or the city of Jerusalem. This was a way of saying all of the people, men and women, in the nation of Judah. Really, it's a way of referring to all of God's people, and could even include God's people of today -- us.

So why did God's people need cheering up? Well, let's just say that if you weren't depressed before you started reading the book of Zephaniah, you would be depressed by the time you got into the third chapter. The majority of this book is filled with doom and gloom, literally. God is going to judge, it says; he's going to sweep away everything that has angered him. Sure, Judah's enemies will be destroyed, but God doesn't stop there. Judah, Jerusalem, they're going down, too. No one will escape on the Day of the Lord.

God's people at the time of Zephaniah had reasons to fear God's wrath. They'd deserted God. They had turned to idols, to their own selfish pleasures, to whatever their heart desired. But they had turned away from God and from following what his heart desired. So it's not too surprising that God would be telling them their days were numbered and that he would bring all his anger, wrath, and judgment on their heads.

But that's a few thousand miles and a few thousand years away from us, right? Idol-worshiping, the wrath of God, the nation of Judah, none of that seems very relevant to us in our lives.

But look closer. I mentioned those winter blues that some of us might get this time of year. When there are problems in our families and our relationships, what is the root of those problems? Sin gets a hold of us. The sinful thoughts, desires, and attitudes of this world infect us, and the people we love, and what-do-you-know, all sorts of problems come flying our way. Even sickness and death are only a part of our lives because sin is a part of our lives.

Those thoughts of wishing for what we don't have, what we can't have…what are those thoughts but sinful desires? And how easily those kinds of thoughts and desires can lead us to blame God for our situation. "Why did you let this happen to me? Why did you put me in this situation in my life right now when things could be so much better?"

And when we're wrapped up in what we want, what we think we need, what we think we deserve, how far up our list do you think God and his ways and his Word are? Not very far. We might not be bowing down to stone idols, friends. But there are plenty of other gods to grab our attention -- whatever it is that takes our focus -- that takes our heart -- away from our God.

And because of that, the wrath promised in the first chapters of Zephaniah is promised to us, too. Anyone who acts like you and I do, anyone who has sinful, ungrateful thoughts, anyone who has the focus only on themselves, deserves that wrath and punishment of God. And don't think for a second that he's bluffing!

But instead of wanting us to hang our heads in shame, God wants us to rejoice. He wants us to sing, to shout aloud, to rejoice and be glad! Why? Our text explains. "The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm." (Zeph. 3:15) The punishment we've deserved has been taken away. The enemy of sin and death that we have struggled with (and a losing struggle at that!)--that enemy has been turned back.

What could have possibly caused such a reversal of our fortunes? God himself came to help us! The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm! This time of year isn't just about Christmas parties and shopping and getting together with friends and family. This time is about celebrating the birth of the King!

God didn't leave us to die in our sins, to suffer the punishment we have justly earned! He himself stepped into our world. God the Son came to this world on the first Christmas. He turned away our punishment because he was punished in our place. On the cross Jesus paid your punishment, and he paid mine. All throughout his life Jesus faced our enemy -- sin, death, and the devil -- and he won! He never sinned! He never fell for the devil's lies and temptations! He couldn't even be held back by death, but he defeated it! He destroyed it forever when he rose again! Rejoice! Be glad! Sing and shout for joy!

"But pastor, how can I?" This world is still full of problems! Just talking about what Jesus did doesn't take away the hurts and pains that we are really feeling in this world. A few words about Jesus aren't going to cure that relationship or fix that problem or ease that hurt. The words of Jesus are good for our eternal life, but what about my life today? I don't know what's going to happen to me. I'm hurting. I'm scared. Where can I turn now?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there are easy answers to the problems of our everyday life. I'm not saying you can "rejoice and sing" as if you can just forget all your problems and skip on your merry way through life without a care in the world.

Yes, we have problems and troubles and struggles. But do we have to be scared of them? Do we have to seriously entertain the idea that these struggles will get the best of us? No! We don't! We never have to be afraid again! Listen to Zephaniah. "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save." (Zeph. 3:16-17)

Our God is the one who created the world. He's the one who made you and me. He's the one who defeated death and the devil. He's the Savior who is the King of the world! If that's the God who is with us, what can't he do? Nothing! The Lord your God is with you! He is mighty to save! He is with us through everything we face, and he is strong enough to bring us through it.

The Apostle Paul put it so well in Romans. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)

Don't be afraid. Turn your sadness into joy. Sing, shout, and rejoice! And if you still have trouble doing that, think about this: God rejoices over us. We are the ones he should be angry at, we're the ones you'd think he had to put up with. You'd think he'd be rolling his eyes at all our problems and fears and sadness. But no! He longs to comfort us. He rejoices over us. Our text tells us, "He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)

Imagine a small child who is hurt and scared. What can you do for that child? You pick him up and hug him. You sing to them. You comfort him with your love. That's how our God treats us. That's how our Savior loves us.

I'm not saying you'll never be sad or scared again. But when you are, look to your Savior. Look what he's done for you. Remember that he's not going anywhere. He will never leave you. Celebrate his birth again this year. Give thanks that God thought you were worth enough to give the life of his Son for. Shout and sing with gladness. Rejoice! The Lord your God is with you!

Get Ready to Get Clean

This sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent was preached on 12/6/09 at Our Savior. The text is Malachi 3:1-4. http://ref.ly/Ml3.1-4

Get Ready to Get Clean!

It's time to get ready!  So much of what we do in our lives needs a time to prepare and get ready beforehand. When you take a test at school, you have to get ready and study before you take it, or it probably won't go well. When musicians play a concert, the concert isn't the first time they ever pick up their instrument. No, they spend long hours practicing to get ready. And I'm pretty sure no one here this morning woke up in your bed and then came directly here to church. There were some things you had to do first! You got dressed, maybe you ate breakfast. You got ready.

Interestingly, a lot of our getting ready involves cleaning of some sort. Maybe when you get ready for the day, you take a shower and brush your teeth -- both a form of cleaning. If you have guests coming over for dinner, what do you do? You clean, pick up the house, maybe vacuum, and make sure the place is presentable for guests.  You clean up to make sure everything's ready.

During this season of Advent, we get ready for the Savior. But how? How do we do it? How do we prepare our minds and hearts for Jesus' coming? Logically, you might think we should really try to clean ourselves up first and make sure we're good enough for Jesus. But as our text from Malachi shows us this morning, it doesn't do us any good to clean ourselves up to meet Jesus. Try as we might, we can never clean ourselves of our sins. We can never be perfect. We can never hide the sins that have dirtied our hearts and souls.

So to really get ready for Jesus, we need to listen to John the Baptist. "Repent!" he said in today's Gospel. We need to recognize how dirty and filthy with sin we really are; we need to confess that sin, then we need to look with eager anticipation for our Savior. Because when he comes, he will clean us up. He will wash away every spot and stain as he prepares us to serve him in all we do. So as we wait for Jesus again this year, get ready! Get ready to get clean!

Our text is from the book of the prophet Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament. By the time Malachi wrote his book, a lot had happened to Israel. They had been led to and given the Promised Land. But they had also turned away from the true God to false gods. Because of this, God had sent the Assyrians and Babylonians to take them away from their own land. But then, about 100 years before Malachi, some of the Israelites had returned from captivity in Babylon back to Jerusalem and Judea.

This was unheard of in the ancient world. Usually, once a group of people was carried off into captivity, they never came back. But God brought his people back! So, as you can imagine, they were fired up to be back! They built a new temple after the old one had been destroyed. They were dedicated to God again! It looked like things would finally be good for them all, that they would stay true to God, and that they'd live happily ever after.

It didn't work out that way, though. By the time of Malachi, the people weren't so fired up anymore. They were kind of sluggish, kind of going through the motions. Their hearts were no longer one hundred percent dedicated to God. Oh sure, they still worshiped him. They still came to the temple and brought their offerings. But their hearts just weren't in it any more.

Sound familiar? In some ways, Malachi might as well have been written in our time. We are just as much in need of the challenge and the call to repentance that God gave through Malachi in our text and that God later gave through John the Baptist.

It's John the Baptist that our text talks about first. "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me." (Mal. 3:1) The people needed to be woken up from their spiritual apathy and cleaned up from the filth and grime of their sins. Thankfully God was going to send a messenger to prepare the way first. This is the prophecy of John the Baptist who would get the people ready for Jesus to come.  And it's John's message of repentance that we need to get us ready still today.

Because Jesus is coming soon! "Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty." (Mal. 3:1) Yes, Jesus will come unexpectedly. He came when people weren't expecting to Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago, and he will come unexpectedly when he comes again. Sounds like a good thing! But is it? Are you really ready?

Malachi asked the same question. "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Mal. 3:2-3) The reason you need to get ready for Jesus is because he is going to clean up when he comes.

This isn't just a little tidying up. Our text says he is like a refiner's fire. If you in a mine and you find silver, it's not going to be pure silver. There will be parts of silver and parts of other stuff, less valuable stuff that you have to get rid of. So you burn it away, you refine it in fire until you have pure silver. That's what Jesus will do at the end of the world. He will purge away with fire anything that's not pure. So are you ready?

Again, Jesus is called a launderer's soap. This isn't a nice, gentle hand soap we're talking about here. This is the kind of soap that cleans so aggressively it burns, like lye or bleach. What do you do when you clean with bleach? You've got to watch out for it! If it gets on your clothes it could ruin them. This is a cleaning that's so thorough it destroys all traces of what's dirty.

And that's not a pleasant experience. Picture a young child who's just eaten a meal. Her face is covered in food. But then mom appears with a washcloth in her hand. What does that child do? She says, "No!" I'm clean enough! Don't touch me with that! And she squirms and wriggles to try to keep that cloth away from her.

That's how we act sometimes with our sins. Jesus is coming to cleanse the world from all sin forever? Nah. Not for me. I'm not dirty with sin. I'm pretty good. Sure, I'm not perfect. But I go to church (at least once in a while), and I try to do my best.

No! That's not good enough! Your sins are serious, even the "little" sins. Each of them is a stain so deep that it seems like it could never come off. And if our attitude toward that sin is that it's no big deal, then when Jesus returns to clean up, he's going to wipe us right out and burn us away forever.

No, instead we need to look at our sins. Like how you would take that messy child to a mirror and show her how messy she really is. We need to look into the mirror of God's law and see how serious our sins really are. We need to see the stain of our desiring what's not ours, the dirt of our lies, the filth of our hate, the rottenness of our lack of respect for God's authority. Above all, we need to see the blackest stain of all on ourselves -- when we have put something, anything, ahead of the one true God.

These are not stains we can clean up ourselves. If you never brushed your teeth for several years, and then had a dentist's appointment, what would you do? You'd probably try to quickly brush your teeth really well and floss before seeing the dentist. But you know it wouldn't do any good! The damage would already be done. No quick brushing could take it away. The dentist would try, but the teeth would probably have to go.

The same would be for our sinful selves standing before our holy God. Nothing we can do can cover up those stains, that rot, that filth. So what can we do? How can we get ready to get clean? Listen to John the Baptist. Repent! Look in the mirror, recognize your sins, and then plead for your life. All you can say before God is: I don't deserve anything from you. I am guilty. I beg you, have mercy on me.

And he has had mercy on us. Jesus has paid for those sins. Jesus himself was punished for our mistakes, he has already cleaned up our dirt and filth. He washed them away in his blood shed on the cross. He scrubbed them out of us in our baptism. Yes, we are forgiven. We are holy. In God's eyes we are clean and pure because we trust in Jesus' salvation for us.

True, we're not perfect until we get to heaven. That's why we live in repentance, constantly turning back to our Savior for forgiveness and cleansing. We continually need to get ready to get clean! And that's exactly what Jesus does for us.

Our text continues, "He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years." (Mal. 3:3-4)

In the Old Testament, only the Levites and priests could serve God in his temple. It was off-limits to anyone else. But Jesus purifies all of us to serve him. When we recognize our forgiveness, we want to serve him by obeying him and serving him with our whole lives. The Apostle Peter says, that "You...are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 2:5)

Now, in Christ, we are all priests who serve God with everything we are. Every action is for him, in thanks to him for our salvation. We don't go through the motions, we live for him from our heart and soul, as we are built up in him through the Word and Sacraments.
Peter says later on, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. " (2 Peter 2:9) Jesus chose us to be his, he chose us to praise him with our lives. Let's do that! Let's repent of our sins and declare God's praises with everything we do.

Because as we do, we'll be ready! We'll be ready for Jesus to come. We'll repent and see how much we need his forgiveness. We'll go to him time and again pleading for his forgiveness and rejoicing that it's already ours. We'll go out in the world praising and thanking him in all we do. We'll be ready for him to come again to clean up this world for good and take us home. May that day come quickly! Stay ready for it!

Jesus’ Voice Gives Life

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here. I guess things just get busy when you’re a pastor, husband, and father of four! Anyway, I thought I’d slowly but surely get my past few weeks of sermons posted. This one goes back to November 8th, on a Sunday reserved for talking about Judgment Day. It’s certainly a hot topic today, and I hope this sermon can provide some clarity from God’s Word.

Sermon preached on 11/8/09 at Our Savior. Sermon text John 5:19-30

Jesus' Voice Gives Life

There comes a time when you just have to face the music. You probably know what I'm talking about. Maybe you've done something wrong and the time has come to tell what you've done. Maybe you've got some bad news that you need to finally tell someone, and you're just not looking forward to it. Maybe there's a phone call you've been dreading to make, because you're just not sure what the reaction on the other end is going to be. In all of these instances, you can't just avoid the problem forever. Eventually you'll have to face the music and get it over with.

Judgment Day, the day this world finally ends, is a day that's kind of like that. It's a day when everyone in this world will get the chance to face the music. Some people pretend the day will never come. Some will pray that the day never comes. But it will. The time will be up, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised, and everyone will be judged.

Are you looking forward to that day? We are supposed to be looking forward to Judgment Day as Christians, right? That's the day when Jesus takes us all to heaven to be with him forever! We should be looking forward to it, longing for it, praying that it would come, and come soon! But still, even though our minds might tell us the last day is a good thing, our hearts might tell us something different. Thinking about that last day might still put a few nervous butterflies in your stomach. It might worry you, just a little bit. You might think, "Heaven? Sure. Can't wait. But I'm not looking forward to Judgment Day."

There might be some reasons for that. The first is that even when you're pretty sure of the outcome, there's always the chance that something's going to happen to change things. Judgment Day is the day of a verdict. And even in court cases where it seems like everyone knows what's supposed to happen, the verdict doesn't always go along with the expectations. Maybe the jury won't decide the way people think, or maybe the judge will be having a bad day and will just be looking to make an example out of someone.

Could we face a similar problem on Judgment Day? When we stand before God on that day, what will He say? Will he be the loving Savior of Jesus Christ that we know and love from the Bible, or will he be God the Father, the angry Judge that we've come to fear from the Bible?

Any kids that we have hear today might understand this fear, plus anyone who remembers what it was like when you were younger. Did you ever have something you wanted to ask your parents about, but you'd rather ask one specific parent? There's something you want, and maybe you're pretty sure your dad will say "yes," but you're not sure what mom will say. Or you've done something and you know mom will be understanding, but you're dreading dad coming home. You want to make sure you get the right parent.

We might tend to think of God that way. We might think of Jesus as the understanding one, the forgiving one. But we think of God the Father as the stern one, the powerful one. We might think that meeting Jesus on the last day would be fine, but sure hope we don't run into God the Father!

Jesus dispels that idea in our text. He says, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does." (Jn 5:19-20) No, Jesus reminds us, God the Father and God the Son are one God, and they are perfectly united in everything. We'll never understand how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be three persons in one God. But knowing that does help us understand some other things. God - the Triune God, will be united in judging us.

Jesus goes on to talk about Judgment Day more specifically. "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (Jn. 5:21-23)

On Judgment Day, Jesus says, God the Father has given the power to judge to Jesus alone. And we don't have to worry about Jesus being in a bad mood that day. The Bible tells us that"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb. 13:8)

And, when we stand before Jesus, we will be standing before God. If ever there were verses in the Bible that prove that teach that Jesus is God, it's these verses. "...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (Jn. 5:23) If we honor someone just as we honor our heavenly Father, that means we're worshiping that person as God. Well, that's Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells us that if we don't recognize him as God, then we're not really honoring God the Father either. Jesus is our God! And on Judgment day we will see him.

Which brings us to another fear that might be spooking around in our hearts about that day. What about my sins? Oh yes, sure, I know, and I know that you know that Jesus takes our sins away, that his perfect life and innocent suffering and death have given us forgiveness. But still, way back in our minds, when we're up late at night, when no one else is around we think, "Yeah, but he couldn't forgive my sins. He couldn't take away everything I've done." And our hearts beat a little faster as we think that Judgment Day could come at any time.

After all, our sins are real. We might shrug them off. We might give them a wink and a smile. But God and his law do not joke. While giving the Ten Commandments, God said, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." (Ex. 20:5) God is serious about his Law, and he's serious about punishing someone who breaks it. If you don't think God will punish each and every sin you've committed, then you don't know God. The time to face the music comes for every broken commandment.

So what are we to do? Whether it's Judgment Day or just another Sunday morning, we do what we always do: look to Jesus. In our text Jesus gives us the answer in one of the most amazing paragraphs found anywhere in the Bible. He says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." (Jn. 5:24-27)

Jesus' voice gives life! Do you hear and read Jesus' Word in the Bible? Do you believe? Then did you hear what Jesus says here? You have eternal life! You will not be condemned! And what is Jesus' Word that you've heard and believed? Simple: Jesus is the Savior. Yes, every sin comes with a punishment, yes, God's wrath comes upon all who break his commands. That's why God the Father put his wrath on Jesus. That's why Jesus, after living a perfect life, walked that way of sorrows to the cross. He bore the punishment for our sins -- all our sins, even the ones we think no one could forgive. Jesus has taken that punishment. He has taken you from being dead in sins to being alive in him! You are forgiven, those sins are gone, you have eternal life.

Notice, I didn't say you will have eternal life. I didn't say that once you get to heaven you'll have eternal life, or once you've done a certain set of required actions you'll get eternal life. No, you have it now! Jesus said so! By faith, God's verdict of "not guilty" have already been given to you! The same message that brought you to faith, the message of Jesus as your Savior, the message of sins forgiven, the message of eternal rescue from sin, death, and hell. It's that same message that ensures our "not guilty" verdict on the Last Day.

Sure, we're not in heaven yet. We still have life on this earth to live. But we already have eternal life! The only difference is that when Jesus returns to take us home, he will give us the full glory of heaven that he already won for us! We don't need to worry about the verdict of our judgment on the Last Day. We already have it! In Christ, it's not guilty!

Eventually the time comes to face the music. It comes for everyone. Judgment Day is like that. But remember, when that day comes, it's not really us as Christians who have to face the music. Jesus faced it for us. He took the punishment in our place. He bought and won our forgiveness, our eternal life. Jesus' voice gives life. We don't need to be scared of Judgment Day; we rejoice in it. So when that day comes, when all this happens, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Lk. 21:28).

Hold On

Sermon from Reformation Sunday preached on 11/1/09. Text: Mark 13:5-11. http://ref.ly/Mk13.5-11 

Hold On

When things get bad, when you go through hard times, you've just got to hold on. Eventually things will get better. It can't stay dark forever.  Just hold on a little longer.

That's the kind of advice you're likely to hear for a lot of different problems common to life today. When children are being especially difficult for their parents, the parents are told, "Hold on; they're just going through a stage." When someone is sick or depressed, well-intentioned people often tell them, "Hold on. It will get better. Everything will turn out alright."

Even when things are dangerous we just want to hold on to something. Tornadoes are fairly rare around here, but back in the Midwest they were quite common. And when they came, the advice for safety was simple: go to the basement, find a room without any windows, crouch down on the ground, and hold on. The idea with all this advice is that if you're just patient, if you know just where to go and what to do, eventually the trouble will pass you by.

But will it? Think of all the trouble going on in our world today. I mean, have you watched the news lately? There's trouble out there. There's always some sort of political intrigue going on. Does this or that nation have nuclear weapons or not? What are the latest hateful statements from this or that leader? How many countries out there would love to see our country disappear?

Then there's the "natural" problems going on. We've heard about so many recently. Earthquakes, famines, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis -- there may not be many of those around here, but they're real and they've been all over the place. That's not even mentioning the biggest "natural disaster" that everyone's worried about right now: swine flu, the h1N1 virus. This seems to have many people in a panic. "What will we do? What can be done?" In fact, according to some, one of the most dangerous places you can be now is right here in church.

But that just brings us to the problems in the Christian church and in religion in general. It seems like everyone believes something different. And they're all either trying to convince you that their way is the right way and you better change, or they say that any way is the right way and it doesn't matter what you believe. The amount of denominations in Christianity or even among Lutherans can be dizzying. And then, when you do stand up for what you believe, for the truth, you often get labeled as being insensitive, intolerant, or just plain hateful. It's enough to make you want to say, "What are we supposed to believe anymore? How can anyone possibly get through this?"

So what can we do to get through these hard times? Can we just "hold on" and wait for it to pass? Jesus addresses this question in our text from Mark's gospel.

He reminds us that we shouldn't be surprised that all of this is going on in our world today. We should be expecting it. After all, Jesus himself prophesied things would be this way. "Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many." (Mk. 13:5-6) Jesus knew the religious world would be in chaos like it is today. He knew people would claim to be him. You probably remember some of the cult figures like David Koresh or Jim Jones who have claimed to be the Savior.

It's also common to find those who claim to have found the way of salvation, but that way for them isn't Jesus. Non-Christian religions might pay lip-service to Jesus being a great man, or even a prophet. But they always deny and often condemn calling him the only Savior.

Even in the Christian church, it's becoming less and less common to take Jesus at his word when he calls himself "the way, the truth, and the life." (Jn. 14:6) Many will say, "Yes, sure, Jesus is the Savior, but you need Jesus and your own good works to get to heaven." Or they'll say, "Yes, believe in Jesus, but you better make sure you really believe in him, you'd better feel that you believe in him and have really decided to choose him." And many are left in doubt whether they've really been saved or not.

These events are all signs, Jesus tells us, that God is not going to put up with this sinful world forever. The end is coming. Soon! And the disturbances in nature and the upheavals in the political realm are further evidence of this. "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains." (Mk 13:7-8)

Jesus wasn't necessarily saying that the world is ending tomorrow (though it could.) He's just saying that we're living in the last times; we've been living in them since Jesus ascended into heaven. And just like the pregnant woman who starts to feel a twinge of pain from her unborn baby and knows that the birth will eventually be coming, we too know that the end is coming.

So as we live in these end times, what can we do? Simple. We hold on. I don't mean we plug our ears and close our eyes and just lock ourselves in our homes until Judgment day. No, we must hold on to the Word.  That's what Jesus means when he says, "You must be on your guard." (Mk. 13:9) We need to be on our guard against all these things in the world crumbling around us. And how do we do that? We hold on to the Word.

God's Word is what gets us through the problems and dangers and lies of this world. It alone is the remedies for the false Christs, false teachings, and false teachers that are so prevalent around us today. It's the true, unadulterated, unchanged, and unchanging Word of God that we celebrate in the Lutheran Reformation today. It's not so much Martin Luther or churches that bear his name that we celebrate. It's God's Word that God allowed people like Luther to bring into light again.

That's where we find the truth to fight the lies around us. When we're told that our works are necessary to save us, we remember that we're saved by grace alone, not by works. We have God's undeserved love through faith alone. It's faith that's not from ourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8-9) It's not our choice to become a believer, but God chose us in Christ. And how does he come to us to work faith in us? The Holy Spirit works that faith by Scripture alone, as the Word is proclaimed in our ears, or as water is poured on us with that Word in baptism. Hold on to that Word! We have the gift of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Scripture alone!

And when the other religions of this world point to other saviors, when they say, "look here he is!" or "There he is!" We know not to listen, because we know that our salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) It's Jesus! We're saved by Christ alone!
And because we're saved by Jesus, everything will turn out alright. Things will get better as long as we hold on to the Word. For all the earthquakes and famines and flu viruses only remind us that this world is not our home; heaven is. Jesus has gone there to prepare a place for us, and when the time is right, he'll come and get us! (Jn. 14:1-4)

But until he does return, we hold on! We hold on to the Word, constantly reading and studying it and growing in it to make sure no false teaching creeps its way into our hearts. Hold on to that Word! Treasure it and keep it close to your heart always!

But don't imagine that holding onto the Word means you should keep it to yourself. In fact, the more we hold on to God's Word, the more we will be compelled to share it. Jesus mentions that we'll even share it under the difficult circumstances of this world. "You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them ... Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (Mk. 13:9,11)

People in this sinful world won't always like hearing the truth. But out of love for our Savior, out of love for the souls of those around us, we're going to be compelled to share the truth of that Word anyway. In fact, when you hold on to the Word, study and keep it close to your heart, Jesus here promises that you will always have an answer to those who question you. The Holy Spirit will be there to remind you of just the right words to say.

What those right words will be might vary with different situations, but you can bet they will be based on the same theme: Jesus is the only Savior. He came to save the world. He has forgiven our sins. He has calmed our fears. Because of him, we can repent, we can believe, we will live. That is the gospel, the gospel that Jesus reminds us we are to preach to all nations. (Mk. 13:10)

May this Reformation Sunday spur you on to hold on. During the earthquakes, famines, sicknesses, and false teachings, hold on to God's Word. It will give you the truth that will never let you down or disappoint you. Hold onto that Word, fill yourself up with the confidence of the Holy Spirit that you have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in the message of Scripture alone. Hold on to the Word and receive boldness to proclaim this salvation in Christ alone to everyone you can.

Sure, there's troubles around us. Sure, we face hardships. But it will all end. Jesus will put a stop to it and everything will be alright forever. So trust in him! Rejoice in him! And hold on.

Your Kingdom Come

Which is the better way to pray, from a pre-written prayer or a prayer you make up on the spot from your heart (sometimes called an ex corde prayer)? This is one of those trick questions; both kind of prayers are good. We know we can pray to God because Jesus’ death and resurrection has given us peace with our heavenly Father and access to his throne in prayer. (Eph. 2:14-18)

Sometimes, though, I’ve noticed that pre-written prayers are thought to be inferior by some. The argument goes that you’re just reading words on the page or reciting them from memory; you’re not really praying. The same people say that ex corde prayers are truly God-pleasing prayers, flowing out of your heart of faith.

This kind of argument completely misses the point. There are strengths and weaknesses of both kinds of prayers. While ex corde prayers can express our own faith very well from our heart, they can also be selfish and repetitive, focusing on our felt-needs at the moment rather than God’s eternal will for us.

Written prayers can certainly be read or recited mindlessly, where they just become sounds and syllables instead of an actual prayer. But, pre-written prayers also have a great benefit. Jesus demonstrated this by giving his disciples and us an example of how to pray with the Lord’s prayer. (Matt. 6:9-13) This prayer is a masterfully succinct way of seeking God’s will in our lives and asking for the blessings he has promised to give us.

I’ve been using some pre-written prayers in my own prayer life lately that I’ve found very helpful. Specifically, I’ve been using prayers based on Martin Luther’s prayers and meditations on the Lord’s prayer. These prayers are found in the book, Christian Worship: Pastor’s Companion. (NPH. Milwaukee, WI. 2004) There is a separate short prayer for each petition of the Lord’s prayer. Hopefully this excerpt will help to show how helpful pre-written prayers can be.

Your Kingdom Come

Rule, dear Lord, in the midst of your enemies! Topple every idol throne and every power that raises itself up as a rival to you, both inside our own souls and outside us in the world. Create your kingdom of peace out of the chaos of our hearts. Give us a true and lasting faith in Christ and a fearless hope in your mercy. Help us by your Holy Spirit that we may judge and understand all things not by our own fallen vision, or human sense, but by your Word, which alone is truth. Enable us with all power that you supply to spread your kingdom of grace throughout the world. Produce the Spirit’s fruit in us while we wait here in hope for your appearing.

Blessings to you in your life of prayer.

Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

This sermon was preached on 10/25/09 at Our Savior. It is the second in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text and series title were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work. Some congregations celebrate Reformation Sunday on this date. My congregation will be doing that next week.

Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

It's not very often that we proclaim anything to our neighbors. At least I know it hasn't been often with me. But I remember a couple of times when I consciously tried to get a message out to all of my neighbors. It was several years ago when my family lived in the middle of a lot of houses, and there was just something we had to let people know. So I remember I went to the store, looked for a sign and a stake to pound it in to the ground. Then I went home and put the sign up for all to see. Can you guess what the sign said? "It's a Girl!"

We let our neighbors know when we're really happy about something, like having a child. Some people might let their neighbors know when they feel very strongly about something, like political issues. "Vote for So-and-So!" "Vote yes for this!" "Vote no for that!" All said with signs in the yard.

But what else do we do with our neighbors? Maybe when someone moves into town we'll give them some food. Maybe if there's someone really organized in your neighborhood you'll even have cookouts and parties.  Most of the time, though, many of us probably don't have much meaningful contact with our neighbors. Maybe we smile when we pass each other. Maybe we nod. Maybe we even exchange a few words about the weather. But meaningful contact? It almost never happens.

As Christians, we have a different view of our lives than other people probably would. We recognize some things that others would never think about. We know that we are sinful, and that those sins earn God's wrath. But we also know that we're blessed with a Savior who loved us so much that he paid the punishment for our sins, and he lived the life necessary to earn a place in heaven -- and he gave it all to us. That's good news! That's the good news, and when we think about it, we realize how blessed we are to know it!

Having the love of Christ in our lives is bound to change our lives, to change how we live.  That's why this sermon series has been talking about how Christ's love affects our calling in our lives. We're not just called by God to do whatever we want for ourselves. We're called to live for him who died for us!

And as a part of that, we want to view the people around us, people like our neighbors, in a different way. The Bible tells us this, first in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 19:18), and then repeated by Jesus as the most important commandment besides loving God. What is that commandment? "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mk. 12:31) Love your neighbor. And don't just love them; love them like you love yourself. If there's something you'd want for yourself, if there's something that makes you happy, then loving your neighbor as yourself means you want that something for them, too.

But that's not easy. Love takes time with your neighbors. We just talked about how little interaction we really have with our neighbors. So how can we change that? Why do we want to change that? That's where God's Word comes in, where the Holy Spirit not only helps us understand, but gives us the motivation of Christ's love to want to share his love with others, even our neighbors.

Our text from Colossians deals with this topic. There the Apostle Paul writes, "Pray for us...that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." (Col. 4:3) Remember, as Paul mentions here, that he's in prison. He's in chains. And he's not in chains for stealing or murder, he's in chains because he's been proclaiming the "mystery of Christ." And what is that mystery? The mystery is that God sent his only Son to live and die for the sins of the whole world, to bring eternal life to all who believe. That's the mystery of Christ: the gospel. Paul had been thrown into prison because he proclaimed that gospel.

And now, instead of wanting to forget the message that got him thrown into prison, Paul wants more opportunities to tell it! He wants God to open a door to let him tell that message of Christ's love. Why would he want that, when it included such risk to him personally? Because Paul loved his neighbor.

Loving your neighbor is something that flows directly out of knowing the gospel! You remember that John 3:16 tells us that God sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But do you remember why he did that? The first part of the passage tells us! "For God so loved the world..." (Jn. 3:16)

The whole reason Jesus died for sinners like us is because he loved us! And it's that love that motivates our love. "We love because he first loved us." (1 Jn 4:19) Jesus' love for us is what makes us want to show love. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:15) To live for Christ means to live for those for whom Christ died. People like our neighbors.

Yet, many times we just don't want to. Some people might be offended hearing about Jesus. We don't want to talk to our neighbors because it takes too much time, and we're awfully busy. We don't want to deal with our neighbors' problems when we have so many problems of our own. It's so much easier just to live our own lives and do our own thing. Our neighbors? Well, they're good for a nod of the head. Maybe good enough to talk about the weather with. But to actually share the message of Jesus with them? Maybe later... or maybe not.

Do you see how selfish we can be? Do you see how we can be so focused on ourselves that we don't even care, don't even give it a second thought, when someone doesn't know their Savior? If we think about it at all, we think, "That's their problem." Or, "Someone, should really talk to him." But then we just forget about it and go back to our own lives.

Thank God that he didn't treat us that way. Thank God he sent Jesus to us when we were lost in our sins. Thank God that even though our sins weren't Jesus' problem, he took them onto himself, he took them on his back, right onto the cross, for our forgiveness, for our life, all because he loved us!

So today, give thanks that God so loved the world, that he loved you so much. Today, rededicate yourself to showing that love to others. Show that love to your neighbors. And I don't just mean the people who live on your street. I mean the people in your life, people you see at the store, at a restaurant, even your friends and family. Particularly the ones who don't know about Christ's love. How can you show them his love?

It can be a daunting task. We think we're not up for the challenge. We think, "What if I say something wrong? What if I mess it all up?" We want to just leave that work to people like me, the pastor. And to a certain extent, that's a good point. You're not pastors. I am. Not everyone has the ability to take someone through all their questions about the Bible. Not everyone has the ability to explain everything that someone might need to know about the gospel.

Now, you don't have to be a pastor to be able to do those things, and I think some of you do have those abilities. I'd encourage you to use those abilities when the opportunities come up in your lives or here in church. But if you don't have those abilities, does that mean you can't share Jesus' love with your neighbors? Not at all!
Look at what Paul mentions in Colossians! "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Col. 4:5-6)

Very few of you will ever be given a pulpit and told to preach a sermon. But every one of you has conversations with people. You deal with people at the store, on the street, at school, at work. And everything you do with those people, the way you act at all times, gives a witness to your faith. Do people who know you know that you are a believer? Can they tell from the way you act? It can be a powerful witness!

And sometimes in your conversations the opportunity will come up to give witness to your Savior's love with your words. Does it mean you have to explain everything in the Bible to them? No! Does it mean you have to answer every argument or question that gets thrown at you? No! Your words can be as simple as, "Come and see! Come to church with me. Come take a Bible information class with me. Come talk to my pastor." Out of love, you can point to your Savior in your everyday conversations, in your everyday lives.

And you can even help if you never leave your house. Remember what Paul said in our text! "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Col. 4:2) God gives you an amazing opportunity in prayer. Because Jesus is your Savior, because he died to make you live, he has given you the privilege of approaching our heavenly Father's throne in prayer any time you want to. And God listens to those prayers! You can pray for your neighbors, your friends and relatives who don't know about Jesus. You can pray about the work that we do here in our congregation. You can pray for me, even as I'm praying for you. Don't miss the opportunity to go to God himself and ask for him to work in the people around you who don't know him, and to strengthen those through whom he is working. What an opportunity we all have, every day, with our prayers!

And yes, I know. This all takes time. It takes time to go back to God's Word and continually remember his love for us. It takes time to appreciate what he's given us as a church and work together for his glory. It takes time to get to know our neighbors, to show them love and look for those opportunities to point them to Jesus. It takes time to devote yourself to prayer. But the time is worth it! When should you start? How about today? God has given you this day. He's given you the love of his Son. So there's no better time than now.

Love Takes Time…with the Body of Christ

This sermon was preached on 10/18/09 at Our Savior. It is the second in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text and series title were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work.

Love Takes Time…with the Body of Christ

What would the perfect church be like? What would it be like to be in the perfect congregation? Think specifically! What would this church look like if it were the perfect congregation? I can see it now. A packed house every Sunday for worship. There are multiple Bible classes every Sunday to keep up with the need. Every day of the week there's a Bible information class or some other class. Kids are everywhere, going to Sunday school, confirmation classes, teen classes, and youth group events. People are reaching out, visiting the sick, helping the poor, improving the community. Members are constantly telling their friends, relatives, acquaintances, and neighbors about their Savior and their church. Oh yeah, and everyone gets along, always. There's never any complaining. Everyone is working together, and they're doing it joyfully, not because they have to, but because they love their Savior and they want to do all they can for their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Well, how close are we? Maybe we're not quite ready to call ourselves the perfect congregation yet. In fact, every one of us, from me the pastor to the youngest or oldest or newest member -- we all have to admit that our own actions have made this congregation less than perfect. We've complained. We've divided instead of united. We've grumbled about the work to be done. We've let someone else do it all. We've taken our brothers and sisters in Christ for granted. We've failed to talk about our Savior to those we know. We've ignored the needy and the community. Perfect? We're not close to perfect.

So how do we get there? Obviously when we think of things that aren't perfect, we want to fix them. But how? Do we start all sorts of new programs and classes and then "strongly urge" people to come to them? Maybe we start requiring a certain level of church attendance, and if they don't live up to it; they're gone. Maybe we could invest in a laser-light show style worship to keep things exciting around here and keep people fired up. The problem is, those solutions might cause more harm than good.

And then we look at the early Christian church from our text in Acts and we really start wondering how we could live up to their standards. The early Christians didn't just go to church when they felt like it; we hear that "they devoted themselves" (Acts 2:42) to public worship. And in addition to that, "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." (Acts 2:43) Hmm. I'm not sure how we'll pull that off.

Outside of worship, the Christians were constantly together. "All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." (Acts 2:44-45) Think of the generosity we're talking about here. They share everything with each other, and if anyone needs anything, they give it. Wow! It makes me realize how much of my own stuff I want to keep for myself. How about you?

Those early Christians also had some pretty amazing fellowship with each other. "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47) This wasn't a "see you next Sunday" kind of fellowship. Their lives were completely devoted to each other because they were all devoted to their Savior. And we think, how could we keep up with that! Guess we'll need a lot more sign-up sheets...

But the idea of trying to be the perfect church or somehow trying to keep up with the early Christian church in Acts 2 is an idea that takes us in the wrong direction. It focuses on us, instead of where our focus should be. You might remember that one of the names that the Bible gives for the Christian Church is the body of Christ. Jesus has ascended into heaven, but he still rules all things for the church, which is his body. (Eph. 1:22-23) To be a better church, a better congregation, we can't focus on programs or results. We can only focus on our head, on the only one who can bring us together -- we look, appropriately, to our Savior.

See, with all the amazing things that the early Christian church did there in Acts, it's easy to forget how they got there. That's the beginning of our text. It takes us to the day of Pentecost, and to Peter preaching a sermon to a huge crowd of people. As our text starts, the crowd is stunned. It says, "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart." (Acts 2:37) But you have to go back a verse to see what they heard.

It was Peter uttering the most devastating words -- and the most comforting words -- ever spoken: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36)

No wonder the crowd was cut to the heart. They had killed the Savior. They thought he was an impostor. They'd been convinced that he was a troublemaker, and when the opportunity came to get rid of him; they took it.

Oh sure, not every one of the thousands of people Peter was talking to was directly involved in Jesus' death. Maybe they didn't all arrest him or flog him or spit on him or drive the nails into his hands and feet. But they did all kill him. They killed him with their sins, with their lies, with their hatred, with their unbelief.

And the worst part of it is, so did you. Yes, everyone at Our Savior Lutheran Church, I have news for you: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Yes, you crucified him. No, you didn't hammer in the nails or crack the whip or thrust the spear. But you have sinned. You have put up roadblocks to the unity of your fellow Christians. You have taken your Christian family for granted. You've treated the Good News like old news. And each sin put Jesus on that cross. For each sin Jesus suffered hell.

So like the crowd on Pentecost, we ask, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Where can we go with this guilt we feel? The answer we need is the same one Peter gave: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39)

Just about everyone here has already been baptized, but the power is just as real for us now! Repent. Look at your sins and turn from them. Then turn to Jesus. Turn to the Holy Spirit's power given you in your baptism. There you will find forgiveness. There you will find that your sins have been washed away. Your baptism connects you to Jesus' death (Rom. 6:3). The very death your sins brought Jesus is the same death that Jesus used to take away your sins! You are right with God again! You want to be renewed spiritually? You want new life breathed into our church, into our congregation? Look to your baptism! The Holy Spirit is still at work in you, renewing you and building you up.

And in the same way our worship here together as a body of Christ builds us up, too. It's so easy to think of these services as just words, just a little ritual that we go through. It can be so automatic and thoughtless and we can make it mean nothing by our carelessness. But it isn't nothing. Every word and action in our services point to Jesus. Every word of Good News from the Bible is a gift from God that builds up our faith, that the Holy Spirit uses for our good. You want to renew the Church, come here to worship with hearts ready to repent of your sins, with ears ready to hear with joy the Good News of Christ, and with mouths ready to confess and sing your Maker's praise!

That's what the early church did in Acts. They weren't so different than we are! "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." The Apostles' teaching -- that's like how we hear and learn God's Word here at church. Fellowship --that's the time we spend together as brothers and sisters in Christ. The breaking of bread -- that can be eating together, like we often do, or -- more likely -- it refers to receiving Jesus' body and blood with the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, another incredible gift we receive! Prayer -- we do that too, as we pray to God in thanks and in requests with boldness and confidence that he hears us because of his Son!

So, no, we're not the perfect church. Sure, we have sins and problems and struggles. But we also have a Savior! We have a Savior who loved us so much that he took all of our sins, all of our problems and our struggles, and he bore their burden on the cross. He's forgiven us, and he wants us to cast our cares on him.

And you know what? He will bless us. He will bless us as we take the time to go back to the very means that he has promised to bless us in. Return to your baptism and the real power of the Holy Spirit working in you. Return to the Word and Sacraments proclaiming your forgiveness in so many different ways in these worship services.

When we do that, our love will grow. Whether we look just like that early Christian church or not is beside the point. Our love will grow as Christ's love grows in our hearts. Yes, love takes time. But we as the body of Christ will continue to grow in Christ's love, and his love will shine out for us more and more as Christians, as a congregation, and as his church.

Why So Harsh?

In my Bible reading a couple days ago, I came across something that made my stomach turn. I had read these verses before in the past, but for whatever reason they hit me especially hard now.

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.” (Ezekiel 5:8-10)

The situation described here is the siege of Jerusalem before the city finally fell to the Babylonians in 587 BC. The idea of someone so  desperate that they would become a cannibal and eat their own child or parent makes us sick. But even more amazing in these verses is that this was God’s punishment. He drove them to this.

And we think, “Why?” How could God be so harsh and so severe with his punishment? In some ways it just doesn’t seem fair.

God explains exactly why he was so harsh in the next verse: “Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.” (Ezekiel 5:11) The people had put up idols in God’s temple, repeatedly breaking his first commandment. That’s why he punished them.

But still, we think, “Why so harsh?”

The thing is, though, that God’s law is always harsh. Even when God doesn’t drive people to cannibalism because of their sinful situation, his law is unrelentingly harsh: “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Every sin deserves death, and not just physical death, eternal death in hell. Nothing could be “harsher” than that.

But the Bible also gives us another teaching: the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News that God did something about our sins by sending his Son (John 3:16). He sent Jesus to pay the punishment of hell our  sins deserved (2 Cor. 5:21). The faith that God gives us to trust in Jesus is how we get the eternal life that Jesus’ perfect life won. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

This distinction of the teachings of “law” and “Gospel” is something the Lutheran church is especially known for. It also just happens to be the two main teachings of the Bible. Every time we squirm at how harsh God seems toward sin, we need to remember that as harsh as he is in his law, his love shines forth in his Gospel. In fact, it’s the law’s very harshness that helps us appreciate the Gospel’s sweet comfort.

The edition of Luther’s Catechism that I use to teach young people the basic truths of the Bible has a helpful diagram on these two main teachings:

(Luther’s Catechism,p. 38 Northwestern Publishing House, 1998)

The harshness of God’s law leads to the beauty of his Gospel in Christ. As you read the Bible, never forget this!

Love Takes Time…to Know God

This sermon was preached on 10/11/09 at Our Savior. The sermon is the first in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text as well as the sermon title (or something close to it) were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work.

Love Takes Time…to Know God

How long does it take to know another person? In some ways, it doesn't take much time at all. If you look around church this morning and see someone that you don't know, there's an easy fix for that. Just walk up to the person after church and introduce yourself. Easy. Done. Now you know each other. It really just takes a couple of moments and a few words.

In other ways, though, knowing someone else takes a lot longer. Think about the people in your lives that you know the best. They're probably not people you just met. Instead, they tend to be people we've known for years, even since we were born. When you are growing up, you get to know your family pretty well. But even then, sometimes years later, you get to know them better, you get to know things you never did before. Most married couples thought they knew each other on their wedding day. It doesn't take long for them to realize, though, that they only get to know each other better as time goes on.

To really know someone takes time. It can take all our lives, and it can take all our love. After all, when we really know someone, it means we know their problems, their faults, their little eccentricities that make them who they are. It's a process that requires our love. We have to work at it, we need to seek to know people to really know them better.

It's the same for our relationship with God. Do you really know God? Most of you would say, "Yes, of course I know him! He's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He's the Triune God who loved me so much that he sent God the Son Jesus Christ to be my Savior. Because of that, after I die I will live forever with God in heaven." At least I hope that's what you'd say. But even knowing that about God, you don't know him perfectly.

He's a God who hides himself. (Is. 45:15) He doesn't tell us everything he has planned for each one of us in our lives. He hasn't told us why everything happens to us that happens. He hasn't revealed how long our lives will be or how long it will be until Jesus returns to take us to heaven.

But even the things God has told us about himself, none of us knows perfectly. After all, God reveals himself through his Word, the Bible. And how many people have the entire Bible memorized and know all of it perfectly? None of us do! But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to learn more. In fact, the more we study God's Word, the more we get to know our God, the more we will love him. We'll love him more because we will see his love for us more clearly. Learning more about God, seeking him in his Word, is a life-long process. We will never stop growing in our love for our God and Savior, as long as we never stop growing in his Word. Love takes time, and our love for God grows as we seek God in his Word.

It's my prayer for you that you would know God better. It's my prayer that you seek him in the Bible and grow in your knowledge of his love for you everyday. That's also exactly what the Apostle Paul was praying for in our text from Ephesians. "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name." (Eph. 3:14-15) Right here at the beginning of our prayer, we're getting to know God better, because we're reminded that he's our Father.

We all come from different families and have different earthly fathers, but we all have one heavenly Father. He made every one of us. He keeps us breathing. He provides for us by sending rain to make things grow and giving us wisdom and strength to earn money and be able to buy food and shelter and clothing. To put it another way, God is our Father, and he acts like it.

The fact that he uses that word, "Father" tells us something else about God. We might expect that the God who created all things would be pretty scary. If he's powerful enough to form the mountains and fill the oceans, then what could he do to me if I don't listen to him? And, how could I ever expect him to listen to little old me? He's much too powerful and important to pay attention to me...

But no! He's our Father. A Father listens to his children. So we can approach our heavenly Father with boldness and confidence and ask him for things like dear children ask their dear father. (Luther's Catechism) That shows you something about God's love: he listens to us. He hears our prayers. No matter where we are, God hears us. He hears us because of his Son, as we had heard earlier in Ephesians: "Through [Christ] we...have access to the Father." (Eph. 2:18) What love God has that hears us when we pray to him!

That means he hears the prayer in our text, too. We read, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Eph. 3:16-17)

Usually, if you're going to ask someone for something, you want to make sure that the person is capable of giving it. I don't care how many of you ask me for a million dollars; it's not going to happen. I don't have a million dollars. But with God, we can ask for anything. He is powerful enough to answer. That's why Paul appeals to God's "glorious riches." God is rich, he's got everything, so we can ask for anything. Paul, though asks for power.

God was a good one to ask for this. He is all-powerful. He made the world and everything in it. So if he wanted to give us power to bench-press 300 pounds, he could do it! But Paul's not talking about physical power. He wants God to give us power in our "inner being." He wants us to have a power that you can't see on the outside, but on the inside. It's in our hearts. And what is that power? "That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."

Did you realize that as a believer you have Christ living in your heart? You do! And that really is a powerful thing. On our own, our hearts would probably be in despair. We'd think, "God could never love me, after the way I live. I sin every day, I take him and his Word for granted, I've done so many things that I don't think God could ever love me." But our faith, with Jesus in our hearts, tells us something different. Jesus tells us, "I've forgiven you. I've died for you, but look, I am alive! And you will live, too, because you are connected to me by faith.

And how did we get connected to Jesus by faith? How did he get into our hearts to live there? By God's Word. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17) The Holy Spirit brought us to faith through his Word, or through his Word and the water in baptism. What love our God has for us, that he takes an unworthy sinner, washes our sins away, and God the Son himself comes to live in our hearts by faith. Could we ever fully understand that love?

Maybe not, but we want to try! In our text, Paul continues his prayer. "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:17-19) God has given us the roots of his love in our faith, and he continues to build on that foundation as we continue to hear his Word. The goal for us is to fully understand Christ's love for us, to understand "how wide and long and high and deep" his love really is.

Of course, we could never truly know God that well that we fully understand his love. Our text says it's a "love that surpasses knowledge." We can't understand it. We can't know it completely. But we can always grow in it. We can grow in it to the point that we are "filled to the measure with all the fullness of God."

So, do you feel like you are growing in your love of God, and in understanding his love for you? Are you seeking God, always thirsting to know more and to grow in his grace? Or are you content with what you have? Does the idea of growing in your knowledge not seem that important, do you think, so what, what's the point?

The truth is, if your faith isn't growing, it's dying. When we don't continue studying God's Word, when we stop hearing it or paying attention to it, our faith gets weaker. Eventually, it could die. And then we would never know God's love, but only his wrath.

But what a testament to God's love that he doesn't want that to happen. In fact, it's his power that keeps that from happening. Remember, Christ lives in your heart by faith, he wants you to keep that faith! He wants you to grow in it! And he promises to bless your faith. How does he do that? Through his Word.

God is here in his Word in our worship services. Going to church isn't meant to be some chore to keep you on God's good side. These services are God proclaiming that you're already on his good side. The services are about God pouring out his gifts on you through his Word, through his Sacraments. Don't stay away from church. Come running to the place where God promises to bless you. Talk to those you know who are no longer in church and encourage them to come and receive God's blessings, too.

God is in his Word wherever you are. Read it. Study it. Come to our Bible studies. Read the Bible on your own. God will bless that as you get to know him better. And yes, it takes time. Love takes time when you are seeking God. But what blessings he gives you as you do! And all the problems and troubles you have in your life, everything you pray for, everything you want or need, remember, God can help you with those things. Remember, he gives more than you could ever ask or imagine. So take the time to grow in his grace. He will never disappoint you.

So let's praise that God with the words Paul used to close our text: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph. 3:20-21)